


Like the mountain to the sky

by Adara_Rose



Series: Claudia with a C [2]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, M/M, Sort of Happy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-01-19 23:23:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 5,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12420369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adara_Rose/pseuds/Adara_Rose
Summary: Omega!Oswald/Alpha!Edward, because somewhere there is a baby. Because every story has a mirror, and for every tragedy there must be a joyous tale. The universe demands it.Her name is going to be Claudia.





	1. Late

**Author's Note:**

> Claudia with a C, take 2.  
> For J, who wanted a baby.  
> and for H, who cried.

There was really no reason to run like he had hell itself after him, late was late, but that didn’t stop Edward from nearly colliding with the poor cart pusher as he hurried out into the bleak Gotham night. The woman he’d met by the wine had been very nice, and she’d distracted him for far, far too long. As he drove to the mansion in the rain, he spent more time making up a good excuse than looking at the road, and it was probably pure dumb luck he didn’t get into an accident.

 

He stumbled in through the door, all apologies, wine bottle in hand, and was met with silence. That wasn’t right, where was the maid? There ought to be at least someone home. He knew he should have been here hours ago, but he was here now. 

“Oswald?” Edward cried, hesitant, as he walked slowly through the house, ignoring the way his shoes sluiced uncomfortably. “Hello?”

It was with a growing sense of unease Edward slowly moved through the silent house, not wanting to stay but unable to leave. The rain was battering against the windows, and the house was nearly completely dark.

Finally, he carefully opened the door to the kitchen, not sure what he was going to face.

Oswald sat at the kitchen table, his thin hands wrapped around a mug which contents must be cold, judging from the lack of steam. He looked tired, wan, as if he was the background of one of those depressing renaissance pictures. 

“Hey” Edward said quietly, feeling guilt throb deep in his stomach. It laid there, coiled like a snake, ready to strike.

“I’ve eaten” was the cool reply, and guilt raised its head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Where were you?” the face was carefully blank, but his alpha senses could clearly pick up  _ hurt disappointed lonely abandoned _ in a mess of purple and grey and guilt opened her mouth, baring sharp fangs dripping venom.

“I bought wine” he said, uselessly. Oswald finally,  _ finally _ turned to look at him. His eyes were guarded, like chips of ice, showing nothing.

“No, thank you.” 

Edward frowned. Oswald had specifically asked him to buy a bottle of wine, why was he refusing it now?

“Leftovers in the fridge” well, okay, so he wasn’t in complete shit. If he had been, Oswald wouldn’t have offered to feed him. 

Edward put the bottle on the counter, then went to get that plate. They were silent as he reheated it in the microwave, silent as he ate, the only sound the rain and the scraping of cutlery against fine china.

Finally, dinner was finished and Edward looked at his untouched wine glass.

“I’m sorry” he said, the words burning his lips.

Oswald looked up from his cup, the contents untouched since Ed came home.

“I know” he said.

“Wine?” Edward offered, feeling a bit helpless. He didn’t know what to say. Wasn’t sure what they were to each other.

Oswald shook his head no. At Edward’s questioning gaze, he flashed a quick, unsure little grin. “Doctor’s recommendation.”

Edward’s heart fell into his stomach, upsetting guilt and making it bite, poison turning the organ cold and sour.

“What’s wrong” he said but didn’t want to know. He crossed the knife over the fork, needing to move his hands.

“That depends” Oswald said, unusually cryptic.

“On?”

“You.”


	2. Belief

It wasn’t until an exasperated Oswald shoved a sonogram photo under his nose that Edward felt confident in it actually being true. That there was a pup, a little thing he had helped make, growing under the omega’s heart. Someone who had a heartbeat and was  _ alive _ . Or was going to be alive. He wasn’t sure when it went from a clump of cells to an actual baby. All he knew was that when he touched Oswald’s stomach it was as flat and soft as ever, not even a hint of something growing in there.

“Stop looking at me like that” Oswald complained over his lunch, “I feel like I’ve grown an extra limb.”

Edward ignored his complaints, content to study the way the sun fell in through the windows to play in his dark hair. Was his pup going to have the same dark hair?

“Edward!” 

“Sorry, I… I just…” he made a vague gesture that could have meant anything. Oswald’s eyes softened, his lips curling in a small, pleased smile.

“I know” he said, gently. When Edward reached out a trembling hand, he took it and laid it over his abdomen. 

They stared at each other for several moments. One exasperated, one wondering if he dared to believe. 

“It’s real, Ed” Oswald finally said, just as gently.

“Mine?” he asked, unsure, not knowing if he meant the omega or the pup.

“Yes.” Oswald threw his head back and laughed, making Ed’s heart jump into his throat. “Yes. Both.”

The happiness that bubbled inside spilled over, becoming tears, a shaky smile, and suddenly nothing in the world existed but the man who smiled at him.

Him, and the baby Edward could not yet feel under his trembling fingers.


	3. gratitude

Edward wandered distractedly through the flower shop, feeling that silly giddiness bubbling away inside like an overheated cauldron. He knew Oswald liked flowers, and he wanted to give him some just as… well, he wasn’t sure. Was  _ thank you _ ever enough? Thank you for wanting me, choosing me, letting me into your bed? 

Edward new full well that he wasn’t a catch, and had always focused his attentions on beta women, feeling secure in that even if he got as far as sex they’d be aware of their incompatibility, and thus full union would be out of the question. It had been safe, no performance anxiety or fear that he wouldn’t be enough, that he wouldn’t be able to.. To provide, was that the phrase he had been looking for?

But Oswald… Oswald had been his first omega. Hot, slick, clawing and scratching and biting and moaning “alpha” in Edward’s ear, like it was something to be praised. They’d done it all over the loft, three days of insatiable debauchery as the smell of Oswald’s heat permeated everything, saturated through his very soul as he buried his body, his knot, his very  _ being _ in the other man. 

How could flowers ever be enough? How could  _ anything _ ever be enough? Edward turned to leave, but there was a woman in a green apron blocking his way. She was smiling in a way that made him nervous.

“First pup?” She asked, showing teeth.

“How-”

“Oh, honey, I see that look regularly. And you stink of mated alpha.”

Edward blushed. “We’re not-”

The woman in the green apron laughed at him.

“Not official yet? Better be quick about it, if there’s a pup on the way.” He hadn’t thought of that. He’d been allowed to sire a pup. He’d never even dared dream of something like that. A mating? With Oswald? He trembled. Wanted. Wanted his mark on Oswald’s pale neck, warning of any alphas that might try to take the beautiful man away from Edward. Alphas who were stronger, smarter, better looking, just… better.

“Orange blossoms” the florist said as she walked over to the large display case holding the freshly cut flowers, “for love, marriage, and fruitfulness.”

Edward nodded, distracted. 

There was a jewelry shop across the street.


	4. welcome

It’s late, and the fire that was lit in the fireplace has long since burned down. Edward is more than half asleep where he lies on the couch, but it's nothing compared to how deeply asleep his arm is. It’s past numb and into dead meat in a way that is going to be absolute agony when it decides to wake up. This doesn’t mean Edward’s willing to move, however. Instead, he turns his head to look at the man snoozing on his arm, an open book forgotten on his lap.

It’s not the first time they’ve ended up like this, in fact it has happened many times before. But this night is different. Maybe it is because of the knowledge simmering between them. The knowledge that they are more than they were, more than alpha and omega and hesitant friends. That there is a third being present in this room, a flutter of a presence that’s barely there and still takes up the entire world.

If he closes his eyes and concentrates, he can almost see her.


	5. vision

Oswald winces at the cold cream applied to his skin, but Edward carefully taking his hand changes the frown to a smile. It is still so new, this… whatever it is between them, this whisper of… something. 

“There we are” the doctor -a middle aged beta man with greying temples and calloused hands, heavy and gentle- says, looking at the screen, and Edward looks too. At first, it’s just a mass of grey and white lines, twisting and turning. Then the doctor points.

“There is the spine” he says and suddenly everything is crystal clear. There she is, Edward’s pup. Their pup. The pup neither of them ever thought they’d have. But there it -she- is, there is her spine and a little hand with barely-there fingers and she’s perfect. Edward’s throat closes up and he has to blink repeatedly, very quickly, to keep from crying. Oswald’s gaze is fond as his slender fingers grip Ed’s shaking hand.

“Would you like to know the sex?” The doctor asks but they already know. Oswald smiles; happy, confident, beautiful.

“Her name is Claudia” he tells the doctor, who smiles indulgently at them both.


	6. size

Oswald frowned at himself in the mirror, poking unhappily at the bulge that would not go away no matter how much he watched his calorie intake. There was no denying it; he was getting  _ fat. _ He was getting fat, and ugly, and soon he wasn’t going to be able to walk and someone was going to have to push him around in a wheelchair and then Ed was going to  _ leave _ for someone beautiful and slim who didn’t limp when they walked and _ wasn’t fat. _

“I can hear you angsting from downstairs” the alpha in question teased as he came up behind Oswald, wrapping his arms around him.

“I am not angsting!” he protested, hating how his voice cracked. For the past few weeks he’d been constantly on the verge of tears. 

“Don’t you know” Ed teased gently, “that alphas like a little more booty to hold at night?”

“Stop quoting pop songs at me, dammit!” It always made him smile, especially when he didn’t want to.

“But every inch of you is perfect, from the bottom to the top.” Ed sing-songed, then he grew serious. He let his hands slide down and rest on Oswald’s building abdomen, feeling the skin stretched taut under his fingers. 

“That’s our pup in there” he whispered, reverent.

“More like me eating too much” Oswald did  _ not  _ sniffle.

“You’re eating for two now” Ed replied, leaning down so he could press his cheek to Oswald’s. “And you are  _ stunning. _ ”

This time, there was a sniffle.

“Really?” Edward smiled, letting his hands slip lower.

“Mm, can’t resist you.”

“Yeah?” the word came out breathy, even as Oswald turned around in his arms. “Show me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is Meghan Trainor’s “all about the bass”.  
> Because Os' got all the right junk in all the right places.   
> And that GODDAMN desk gif!


	7. Chapter 7

"We can't" Ed protested, "the pup..." He gestured helplessly towards his omega’s round stomach.

"Ed" Oswald growled as he yanked Eds zipper open, "I am not wet, I am fucking  _ soaked _ . I've got a goddamn river between my legs and if you don't knot me right now I am tracking down an alpha who  **_will_ ** ."

Ed growled. If anyone as much as touched his omega then the bastard was going to lose a limb. Or all of them.

"God" Oswald moaned, "you are so fucking hot when you are possessive."

Ed growled again, this time with lust as he swiftly divested his mate of his clothing. Oswald hasn't been lying; his thighs were wet with slick and it kept leaking from his privates, the mere sight of it making Ed light headed with desire. He buried his face between Oswald’s legs, lapping at the fluid like a dying man at the cool waters of the Oasis.

"Oh God" Oswald keened somewhere above him, "alpha...Please... Alpha..."

Ed groaned in reply, his lips wet and sticky, punch-drunk on the taste of his mate’s desire, the sounds of his pleasure.

He pressed two fingers into Oswald’s slick hole, twisting and pushing, delighting in the cries falling from the omega’s lips.

“For fuck’s sake, Ed-” Oswald keened, pawing at his shoulders. “Now, damnit!”

He pushed Oswald down onto the sofa, stumbling forwards and falling on top of him, his trousers tangling around his ankles and making him clumsy. 

“Careful!” Oswald wheezed, “Claudia-”

“Shut up” Ed groaned as he pressed between his legs, knot already forming as Oswald’s arms came around him.

“Make me!” The omega challenged him, his voice breaking on the second word as Ed bottomed out, teeth worrying his pale neck. Maybe one day, he’d dare to place his mark there. 


	8. Light

There were so many flashes of light that for a moment, Ed saw absolutely nothing but darkness. Oswald, however, seemed as calm as a bloody iceberg where he stood, not giving away how sore his back was from the weight of the pup and the strain of his bad leg.

“Mr Mayor-” “Mr Cobblepot-” “Mr-” “Is it true that-”

“One question at a time, please.” Always the master of these situations. It made Ed want to drag him onto the floor and mess him up.

Or just… rub his cheek against that adorable baby bump until Claudia got fed up and kicked him. It always made his heart melt.

“Mr mayor!” A tall woman with red hair, “when can we expect the birth?”

“In about two months.”

“Mr Mayor!” A man with skin like chocolate and a face cut in stone. “Is it true that you are not officially mated?”

“Not yet, no.” 

“Why?” Edward didn’t see who had asked that question, but it made him feel sick to his stomach. Because they weren’t mated, and even though he would drench Gotham in blood for  _ his _ beautiful omega, Oswald still wasn’t officially his. 

“Doctor’s orders. No strenuous activities.” 

A smattering of laughter. More camera flashes. Oswald looked at Edward out of the corner of his eye. Not sure what he wanted, Edward still obeyed. He might be the alpha, but he was also so darn tightly wrapped around Oswald’s fingers that he’d do whatever he wanted. Plus, oswald knew where he slept - and he knew exactly what Oswald was capable of when even a bit ticked off. Add pregnancy hormones and he was more than a little volatile.

Oswald openly took his hand, and there was a chorus of questions that ended up sounding like a very confused herd of unusually dumb sheep bleating all at once.

Oswald waited until it had ended, Edward wondering if he could talk him into sitting down and resting or if that was going to have to wait until later. 

“Mr Nygma and I are very happy to be expecting our first pup, and our mating will take place after her birth. This is due to medical concerns and has nothing to do with our personal desires. If it was up to him, we’d be mated tomorrow. I’m not sure I’d wait that long”

There was more laughter, and Edward completely forgot about his public persona and stared at Oswald in open adoration. Someone snapped a picture of his face.

“Two more questions” Oswald said, still unflappable, even though he had started leaning slightly on Edward who was trying his damnedest not to grin like a lovesick idiot.

A hand shot up. The redheaded woman from earlier.

“Have you settled on a name yet?”

“Claudia” Edward and Oswald chorused, unable to keep from looking into each other’s eyes as they spoke the name. For a moment, they both seemed to glow.

“What is the one thing you would wish for at the present?” Someone called. Edward was too busy making goo-goo eyes at his to-be mate, hands itching to touch his stomach, feel their pup inside.

“That he’d stop being so pigheaded about the colour of the nursery” Oswald replied flippantly, “purple is an  _ excellent  _ colour for a princess.”


	9. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For J, who's sick and needs a pick-up. Love you!

Oswald slumped back on the sofa with a unhappy groan, glaring furiously at the most evil object in existence. It stood incongruously a few feet away, but at the present even that was too much for his aching back to handle. For the past three weeks he had been confined to the evil thing, and he hated it more for each day that passed.

“Stop trying to glare a hole in the wheelchair” Edward admonished gently as he came in with a tray, “it’s not going away.”

“Evil piece of junk” Oswald muttered petulantly, ignoring the throb of pain from his injured leg. Edward made a noncommittal noise as he put the tray down on the small coffee table, and went to fetch a footstool to prop Oswald’s swollen feet up on. 

Oswald groaned in relief as Edward followed the propping up of feet with stuffing a thick pillow behind his back. Claudia seemed to be pleased too, punching his ribs in agreement.

“Thank you” Oswald said, immediately rewarded by an adoring, soppy look from his alpha as the man's till hovered over him. He tilted his head and pursed his lips, asking silently for a kiss. It was given, sweet and warm and full of so much love it made his heart stutter.

“How are you feeling?” Edward murmured gently, still leaning over him.

“Like being paralyzed would be preferable to having feet.” Oswald snarked before had time to think, and the look on ed’s face immediately changed to worry.

“I’ll get your pills-” the alpha started, but Oswald held him in place with a hand to his arm.

“No pills. They’re not good for Claudia.” Edward looked torn; he couldn’t stand Oswald hurting, in any way ever. 

There was silence, the tea tray forgotten.

“Can I try something?” Edward finally asked, hesitant. Oswald nodded; whatever it was Edward was thinking, it couldn't get much worse than it was.

But he was still surprised when Edward knelt before him,  carefully removing his expensive italian leather shoes and fine silk socks. Oswald felt a bit embarrassed; his feet were swollen, and red, and looked horrible. But Edward, who was kneeling beside him on the floor, didn’t seem to care. Instead, he pressed an adoring kiss to his ankle, before slowly starting to massage the swollen limb.

Oswald’s head fell back on the couch with a satisfied groan, his eyes sliding shut. It felt like he was damn close to heaven as Edward’s long, slim fingers pressed and pushed, making the dull ache throbbing from his toes and all the way up disappear bit by bit, replaced by warmth and what almost felt like a puddle of happiness. Like he was being turned into warm mush. 

Eventually, Edward finished his heavenly treatment and gently slipped two worn slippers over oswald’s much less swollen feet. Oswald glared momentarily at the horribly ugly green and purple plaid of the slippers, but was distracted by a cup of tea hovering in front of his nose. He would much have preferred coffee, but the doctor had forbidden it. Along with alcohol and anything including sugar or starches. Gestational diabetes  _ sucked.  _

Oswald looked suspiciously at the small chocolate cakes resting on a silver platter. They looked too darn good to be allowed in his diet.

“Black bean brownies” Edward supplied without being prompted, “I got the recipe from youtube. They’re really good, and you are allowed to eat them.”

Oswald blinked back tears, hiding his suddenly emotional state behind sipping at the tea. It was his favorite, made up exactly the way he liked it, and with chocolate to go with it.

“What did I ever do to deserve you?” He sniffled. 

Edward looked back at him with adoration.

“You chose me.” 


	10. clever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to need 1 more part to finish this...

Edward Nygma was an intelligent man. In fact, he probably had one of the highest IQ’s in the entire city of Gotham. And he wasn’t bragging. Much. However, he did like to tell people, if they were stupid enough to ask, that he was “as clever as a baker’s dozen in a rectangular box”. This made them scratch their heads and sod off, thinking he was mad, and Oswald roll his eyes in equal parts at edward and the person who had asked.  Oswald, who actually knew exactly how high Ed’s IQ was and that he was more or less mad.

But genius level IQ and a (if he said so himself) fiendish wit and ability to tell people things in ways that made them feel stupid, did not help in the nigh on impossible task that he was faced with at the present. 

“Insert plug B into hole G” he read for the fifteenth time and it made just as much sense as the other fourteen. That is, none whatsoever. He was on page three of the instructions and felt as if some god somewhere was laughing their ass off at him. Perhaps all the gods were. 

“What the fuck is plug B?” he groaned, rifling through the plastic box he had dumped all the little pieces into. It didn’t help; there were at least three that looked identical apart from the fact that they varied in length. And he had no idea which was which. Genius IQ didn’t help at all.

“Need help?” An amused voice said from the doorway.

“No” Ed growled in frustration, “I can do this!”

Oswald guided the wheelchair slowly into the room that was to be Claudia’s nursery. At eight months pregnant, he was heavy and swollen and spent most of his time resting. His joints allowed little else.

“That’s what you said half an hour ago” Oswald smirked. Ed snarled in frustration, almost ripping the instruction leaflet apart as his fists balled.

“I know what I’m doing!” he insisted, ignoring the debris that was  _ supposed _ to be a bassinet that lay sprawled before him. “I’m not  _ stupid!” _

The smirk slipped from oswald’s face and he reached out to play a hand on ed’s shoulder.

“What’s this really about, Ed?” he asked. Ed clenched his jaw, didn’t want to look at the omega. Hated when oswald’s voice was soft and caring and worried, like right now. He wasn't supposed to worry about his alpha; it was Ed’s job to make sure that Oswald had nothing to think about more than his pup and their nest. He was supposed to be capable and provide. And here he was defeated by a fucking  _ flatpack. _

“Talk to me.” Oswald cajoled, “Remember we agreed on communication.” Damn it. 

“I…” he began, feeling very small and useless, like his father had always told him he was. The instructions fell from his suddenly useless hands. Oswald’s hand stroked the back of his neck, making his inner alpha purr in contentment. It made Ed want to cry.

“I can’t do it” he finally choked out.

“Can’t what?” 

“Be strong. Fix everything, I can’t… I can’t take care of you like you should be taken care of, I… I can’t fix it.”

“What is it you think needs fixing?” Oswald’s voice was still soft, kind, his hand a comforting weight on Ed’s neck.

“I’m the smartest man in Gotham and I can’t assemble a piece of furniture.” Ed whimpered, hating how needy he felt. “And soon you’re going to realise that I might be clever but that’s all I am and I can’t provide for you, can’t hold down a job or keep people around and I’m not strong and I can’t take away your pain and you’re going to find someone better than me.” he felt like crying.

The fingers that had been stroking his neck and playing in his hair, stilled. 

“Oh ed.” oswald sighed. “You stupid bastard.”

Ed whimpered. This was it, this was when oswald was going to tell him that he wasn’t worthy of the omega, that he didn’t deserve to be a father to the beautiful pup they had made.

Except Oswald was pulling at his shoulders, making him turn around. He leaned down, pressing his forehead to Ed’s which was probably terribly uncomfortable over his swollen stomach.

“Ed, listen to me. You are not my first alpha. I have, in fact, been with several.” Ed flinched and looked away, didn’t want to know this. But Oswald insisted.

“But you are the first alpha I have shared more with than just a heat. That I have  _ wanted _ more with. And this?” he took Ed’s shaking hands in his, pressing them to  his stomach. Ed could feel the baby move under his palms. “This is proof. We belong, you and me.”

Claudia kicked just then, as if emphasising her carrier’s words. Oswald’s unendingly blue eyes pulled him in and under.

“I love you” Edward pleaded, words aching in his throat.

Oswald smiled at him, indulgently, affectionately. 

“And we love you.”

And somehow those simple words took everything broken and mangled inside Ed and wrapped it up in something that felt a bit like cotton candy. He rose slowly, on shaking legs, and suddenly their positions were reversed. He was suddenly leaning over Oswald who was still smiling, tilting his head to the side in obvious invitation.

Ed buried his nose in soft pale skin, breathing in the scent of brandy and crisp apples and  _ baby _ . He could feel Claudia move under his shaking hands, as if she was spinning with glee in her dark sanctuary. And as Edward's mouth filled with blood and his brain short-circuited with the ecstasy of it he finally let himself believe that this is his. Really, really his. They both were.

The mark on Oswald's neck eventually scabbed over with a mix of blood, saliva and joyous tears.


	11. Welcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is childbirth. Sort of explicit.

Mrs Clarke, the wife of the Chief of Commerce in Gotham, was having a very interesting conversation with Mr Nygma. She was chattering away at him about baby fashions, and clearly he was very interested as he was soon going to have a little one of his own. Quite and unusual alpha, he was, not at all dominant or rude like most alphas within days of their pup’s birth tended to be. She was just about to tell him how bows were all the rage, especially in spring colours, when the mayor broke in.

“Ed” he said quietly as he neatly folded his napkin over the perfectly cooked steak he had not even touched. “Purple.”

Mrs Clarke was quite surprised to see the Chief of Staff turn white as a sheet as he dropped his fork with a clatter.

“Now?” The man squeaked, looking panicked. The mayor’s lips thinned.

“The liquid kind.” he responded. Apparently this was some sort of code, as Mr Nygma had his phone out in the next moment, dialing a number.

“Code purple” he snarled into the phone, “Yes NOW. Pull the car around.”

Then he and the mayor were standing and making their excuses and everyone was very confused as Mr Nygma escorted his very pregnant mate from the hall.

Mrs Clarke leaned forward, curious about the liquid comment, and looked at the Mayor’s chair. Then she started to smile. She might only be a beta, but she had three children of her own and was most definitely not stupid. The mayor's water had broken.  

 

* * *

  
“Why is Victor driving?” Oswald asked as he grimaced through another contraction. They were coming very, very fast - too fast, he thought, and his water had just broke, dammit. He was not giving birth to his first pup in the back of the bloody limo!

“The driver had some whiskey. I wasn’t about to let a man who's had alcohol drive.”

“He drank on duty?” Oswald hissed, momentarily forgetting the agony he was in to be furious.

“It’s been handled!” Victor yelled from the front seat as he took another curve at break-neck speed. He was cheerily breaking every traffic law ever invented (and some that weren’t) on his way to the hospital. There was a baby on her way, dammit! Fuck the police!

 

“One minute” Ed whimpered in distress. They were still in the car, and it was clear by now that Claudia had no intention of waiting any longer. She wanted out, and she wanted out now.

“One minute what?” Oswald snarled in response as he gripped his mate’s hand hard enough to make the bones groan in protest.

“Between contractions. She’s impatient!”

“She damn well is gonna wait, I am not giving birth in the car!”

Ed whimpered again, in more distress this time.

“Babe, I don't think she cares!" Oswald sent him a murderous glare.

"Well, I care! Ed, do something!"

What do you want me to do?”

“Make it stop! OH GOD!” Oswald howled in agony as the worst contraction yet made his entire body seize up. It passed, and he sagged back against the seat, whimpering.

“I can’t love, I’d do it for you if I could, I-” Ed babbled desperately, wanting nothing more than for this to be over and preferably right now. That or get Oswald on some really fancy painkillers.

“Need to push” the omega sobbed, his face contorting.

“No you don’t!” Ed protested desperately, “at least let me get your pants off first!”

 

* * *

 

“STOP THE CAR!” Victor wasn’t sure who had screamed the command, but the tone made him pull over onto the curb, knocking over a couple of trash cans in the process. He then scrambled for the back seat, not sure what he was expecting. He was not expecting what he got, anyway. Because what he got, was Oswald lying on the floor, cradled in Ed’s arms, stripped from the waist down as he struggled through a contraction that made his entire body seem to constrict in on itself.

“What the hell is happening?” Victor yelled, but he knew of course. Claudia. Claudia was happening. And her timing sucked.

“Help me” Oswald whimpered, desperately. Victor really wanted to run the hell in the other direction, but he hadn’t sat up learning how to emergency deliver an infant during harsh conditions for nothing. (In his line of work you made damn sure to be prepared for everything).

“Sorry boss” he said grimly, “but she’s coming out whether you want her to or not. Now, I need to see how open you are. Nygma, keep your alpha in check cause I’m about to put my fingers where they’ve no business going and I want to keep them.”

Ed, wild-eyed in panic, gave him a brief nod.

 

* * *

 

The baby was covered in blood, and mucus, and she was squished and red and blotchy and Ed had never seen anything as beautiful in his life. He stared in awe as Victor gently cleaned her off, cut the umbilical cord with a switchblade, wrapped her in the ripped remains of his shirt, and placed her every so gently in Oswald’s arms.

“Next time” Oswald murmured tiredly as he guided her little mouth to his breast, “i’m getting a c-section.”

But Ed didn’t quite hear him. He wasn’t truly aware of anything in the world apart from the itty bitty sucking noises his daughter made as she ate, the perfect shell of her tiny ear or the way her tiny hand gripped his pinky like it was a lifeline.

Tears dripped down his cheeks as he held his omega and his pup close to his chest, his heart aching.

“Claudia” he choked out as Victor started the car to drive them the rest of the way to the hospital, “Welcome, sweetheart.”


End file.
